Trust

From the earliest days of human evolution, survival has depended on cooperation and exchange with others, making trust an indispensable part of [Page 824]existence. To live together in a tribe, band, or community, it was necessary for people to work together collaboratively in nearly all aspects of daily life. To obtain food and materials for subsistence, they needed a basic level of confidence that those who had the resources they needed would engage in a fair and honest exchange of goods and services. To protect themselves from outside threats, they had to depend on the loyalty of family, friends, and allies. Since the dawn of human history, trust has been essential to forming and maintaining successful interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup relationships.

This entry focuses on trust ...